A Little Bit Messy
by those other things
Summary: A collection of drabbles that may or may not have anything to do with each other. Primarily Wildehopps, but who knows where this could go?
1. Muddled

_Muddled (but not really)_

Summary: This is not what he signed up for.

—

She'd been peaceably writing up her case review under the dim light of her desk lamp when the door flew open and mud whipped past her, missing her by a margin. In that second, if she had just turned her head, she would've been met with a face full of dirt.

" _Carrots_."

His voice was as brown as his body. She was a good twenty feet away from him and was still able to make out the clumps of dull dirt crusted in his usually shiny, red coat.

When he spoke again, Judy had to choke down her giggle. "You didn't tell me it would be like _this_." The paw he waved wildly over his front was caked in mud, and she could see little bits and pieces cracking off and falling to the ground.

"You're making a mess," Judy piped, sliding from her seat so that she could approach him.

"I'm doing just great, thanks for asking," Nick groused, shaking himself like a wet dog. More dirt flew off him, and Judy could no longer contain her laughter.

"What happened?" She asked, despite her suspicion that she knew exactly what had occurred.

"What _happened?_ " His usually flippant green eyes were narrowed at her, as if daring her to make him recount the ordeal. _"_ The Academy's Rainforest District training is what happened, Hopps. My application didn't say anything about eating mud cakes and greeting death face-to-face. Is it too late to resign?"

" _Nick!_ " Judy scolded, even though her eyes were twinkling and she was beaming up at him as she continued half-fondly, half-chidingly, "I know you're not a quitter."

"Don't ' _Nick_ _'_ me, sweetheart," he grumbled under his breath. "And clearly you don't know me as well as you think. I've quit a lot of things."

"Oh?" Her ears fell flat as her gaze became quiet and gentle, awaiting his confession made in vulnerability.

He smirked, tugging on one of her ears. "Sure, Carrots. Smoking, drinking… you know, all those things _delinquents_ do."

" _Nick!_ " She exclaimed again, whacking him in the chest.

" _Yow!_ " The cocky look on his face quickly vanished as Nick flinched away from her, rubbing the spot she'd just attacked and looking appalled. "What was that for?"

Her attempt to sound indignant was foiled by her wobbling mouth, which was doing its best not to smile. "Don't take advantage of my empathy!"

" _Ha!_ I'm pretty sure your _empathy_ wasn't here just a second ago, when I was walking through the door, _straightjacket_ -ed by _mud_."

" _Please_ ," The bunny scoffed, looking at him smugly as she rolled her eyes. "I've already gone through all of what you're doing. It's not that bad."

"Oh yeah? You try failing every course and having a fanatical polar bear coach let you know."

"How _is_ Trish?"

"She has a _name_?"

He's never failed to make her laugh, and she let him know he'd also succeeded this time by throwing her head back with a peel of laughter.

Nick was pleased with her delight. She could see it in the way he fought down his own mirth and tried to keep a neutral expression. "Seriously, rabbit. Tell me your secret."

"Nuh-uh," Her nose twitched. Before she could see him frown, she turned away, bounding towards the bathroom to prep the shower for him and also grab a broom and dustpan from the closet. "You've gotta figure it out on your own."

" _Judy_ ," Nick whined, voice carrying through the hallway.

"You'll figure it out! You're a clever fox, after all." Her voice was filled with affection as she peered at him. Her partner had just tugged his shirt off and was making quick work of unzipping his fly. He hurried past her and straight into the bathroom, which released a cloud of steam as he opened the door before shutting it securely.

Just a second later, she heard him singing to himself, clearly not as bothered as he'd made out to be. Smiling softly to nobody in particular, she turned to leave, only to yelp as his paw shot out from a crack in the door and grabbed her.

"Thanks, Carrots." His snout was the only thing poking through the crack, and his nose was shiny with condensation.

"For…?"

The opening widened just enough so that he could look at her. He'd lost his usually smarmy, half-lidded gaze, looking at her with so much innocence. There was absolutely no pretense in his verdant eyes. "For believing in me."

The way he said it was as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Judy could only blink owlishly at him.

Her stupefaction seemed to amuse him because his face melted back into its traditional hooded stare and crooked smile. Nick didn't wait for her to react, just stooped down so he could look her in her bewildered eyes and kiss her on the nose.

"You know I love you." Then he closed the door in her face.

Judy was left to mull over his words, settling into the warmth that they lit inside her chest. Right now, she could choose to worry– worry for their future or worry about their individual pasts– but no, she'd rather not let anxiety eat away at her present joy. She waved away the uncertainties of their lives because she knew they would tackle those together.

Instead, she smiled at the door as Nick picked up singing where he'd left off. "Yes," She murmured. "Yes, I do know. And I love you, too."

He certainly hadn't heard her admission, but she'd have a lot of time in the future to let him know.

—

a/n: Ta-da! I have too many tiny head canons despite the fact that I'm working on two lengthy fics. I don't have enough inspiration to just punch those two fics out, so I thought it'd be a good idea to keep writing ANYTHING, as long as I was writing. Thus, this compilation was born. A collection of un-beta-d, unedited (for the most part), un-long (can you tell I'm trying too hard) writing.

It'll be a variety of drabbles/short stories, whatever you wanna call them. Some of them might be related, some of them won't be at all. Some may be AU, etc. etc. etc. Honestly, this is just a jumble of everything. I'll be sure to label everything appropriately!

This collection is subject to update whenever I want! Thanks for reading! Leave a review! They seriously keep me motivated. :"D


	2. Naturals

_Summary_ : They're really good at babysitting. Like, _really_ good.

Disclaimer: O, to see the sun set over the day that I own Zootopia! But alas, never shall that day happen, not evenst when the hairs on mineth head doth grayeth over into the likeness of a hare.

—

 **Naturals**

—

"Nick, you can't give that to her!"

"And why the hell not, rabbit?"

"Her teeth will _break_! And don't say that _word_ in front of her!"

"What word? 'Rabbit'? That _is_ a pretty bad word." He bared his teeth in a wide smile, basking in his jack-assery. Nick cradled the shrewlet closer to his chest, cooing at the tiny thing when it squirmed. "And her teeth won't break. Will they, Judy? You're a strong little shrew, aren't you? _Yes you are!_ "

"I have _never_ heard you make that sound before," Judy narrowed her eyes at him when he baby-talked in a sickeningly-sweet way. Her partner-in-crime was staring, transfixed by the snoozing animal, while his finger tickled delicately at the underside of the baby's chin. The carrot he'd been trying to tempt baby Judy with earlier was now in his lap, forgotten and wilting.

Fru Fru's daughter woke with a start and began to wail; Nick sat up, back straight as a board as his green eyes shot to Judy, who wanted to smirk at him but could only manage a soft grin as the fox passed the bundle of cloth to her. Judy took a seat beside Nick on the couch, resting her side against his. They breathed in tandem– slow, cautious breaths, as if even the slightest sharp movement would further discomfort the child.

As Judy rocked her entire body to ease the shrewlet, she sang a soft lullaby. Nick offered up various toys that were littered across the ground. When the floor was spotless– and the couch piled high with stuffed animals and toy blocks and trucks/airplanes/ships galore– he settled restlessly back into his spot beside Judy, foot shaking anxiously. The bunny's god-daughter was once again sound asleep.

Nick craned his neck forward, watching baby Judy over "elder" Judy's shoulder. "You think she's hungry?"

"We fed her 30 minutes ago," Judy replied shortly, returning to her song immediately.

"Maybe she needs her diaper changed."

"She smells fine."

"Or maybe she's _bored_?"

"I can't see why she would be."

"Is it time for her bath?"

Finally, Judy glared at her best friend. " _Nick_. You'll spoil her. She's doing just fine."

"I can't help it," he smiled mischievously at Judy, then turned to look at the baby, eyes growing soft and gooey. "She deserves to be spoiled."

For the next 30 minutes, they passed Fru Fru's daughter back and forth. Judy sang under her breath for her turns while Nick spun long, far-fetched tales of his adventures.

In the middle of detailing how he'd just one-upped the biggest man in the gang, his face twisted and his ears flattened. When he lifted his head to look at Judy instead of her god-daughter, Judy laughed hysterically at the look on his mug, beginning to snort halfway through and consequently waking the shrewlet up.

"C'mon, give her here." Judy took the bundle, holding her carefully in her paws. Honestly, Fru Fru had wrapped the child up in such a way that most of the mass was blanket, because usually the child fit in the palm of Nick's and Judy's hands with plenty of room to spare. Anyhow, they both scampered to the baby's bathroom, where Judy proceeded to clean up the mess her god-daughter had made, finishing the process by meticulously folding the diaper with just her nails.

"God, Carrots. That smells _rank_. And it's not even, what, an eighth an ounce of sh–"

" _Shhhhh_ ," Carrots warned, shooting Nick a scowl.

"Oh, c'mon, it's not like she knows what I'm saying. And let's be honest, I'm not the only one wondering what the Bigs are feeding her."

"Only the best of the best," Judy laughed. Nick smiled down at the bunny before sneezing at the baby powder flying in the air. He pawed at the dust, trying to wave away the offending substance. The baby sneezed a tiny sneeze of her own, and Nick couldn't help the _aaaaw!_ that squeezed its way out of his throat. Judy giggled, nudging him with her elbow before leading the way back down.

At the foot of the stairs, she handed him the baby, bouncing to the Blu-Ray player and sticking in a disc of "The Piggles." Nick sat lightly into the same couch as before, hoping he wouldn't have to dance this time. Judging by the evil gleam in Judy's eye, he was hoping in vain.

—

Fru Fru shut the door softly, her heart fluttering at the happy gurgling of her daughter. When she entered the living room to check on Judy junior, she had to carefully untangle the shrewlet from Judy's arms.

The grown shrew smiled at the image in front of her. Judy was asleep against Nick, who was also snoring lightly, head propped up by his hand, which was propped up on the arm rest of the couch. His mouth was hanging open while his other arm was wrapped around Judy's waist, paw loose and open and inviting. Their faces were illuminated by the dancing Piggles and their technicolor background.

Judy junior shrieked.

" _CARROTS GET UP SHE_ _'_ _S GONE SHE_ _'_ _S BEEN KIDNAPPED SHE_ _'_ _S_ –"

Judy had been tossed from his side and to the floor in his panic. While she rubbed her head and tried to get a bearing on her surroundings, Nick blinked owlishly at Fru Fru, who was practically screaming with laughter. The baby was laughing along the way a baby does (which is to mean, with absolutely no idea what's going on).

His breathing slowed down, and he tried to regain his composure. "She's ok. She's fine." Nick smoothed down the neck at his fur, trying to distract from the red on his face. "False alarm, Carrots."

Judy glowered at her best friend, mumbling under her breath as she picked herself up off the floor and dusted her knees with the backs of her paws.

"You two are just the cutest couple on earth!" Fru Fru squeaked, tapping away at her phone but somehow also looking at the cops while she did it.

"Couple?" The shrew's friends replied simultaneously, both laughing nervously and uncomfortably.

"Well, sure!" Switching her baby to one arm, the arctic shrew held her phone aloft to show whatever picture she had scrolled to.

And lo and behold, the image displayed was a freeze-frame of the two of them from just minutes ago, asleep and curled into each other.

Nick spluttered. "No– that's not– we're just–"

"Friends!" Judy was equally as flustered.

"Hm, reds not your color, Judy," Fru Fru replied nonchalantly, returning to whatever text she'd been occupied with earlier. The comment made Judy burn even brighter. "Anyways, you two can deny it all you want, but I can tell you'd make good parents. _Especially_ together."

The fox was practically swallowing his tongue. " _What?_ "

"Oh yes," Fru Fru answered shrewdly. "I've got video cameras in every room, and they feed live video to my phone! I was checking up on you two through the night! But I didn't need to, because you guys are just the perfect parents. It's so… _natural_. It just feels so right, ya know?"

The two of them didn't even try to argue. They just stood with their mouths agape.

"I say, go and have kits of your own! Screw what the tabloids will say! Screw the general population! You two would be great. Anyways, Hugo will be back in a few minutes, so you guys can go. Thanks for doing this for me!"

Judy could barely get out her, "no problem," as she practically fled from the room to her car. Nick followed suit, only to stick his head back into the room from behind the door. Fru Fru looked at him expectantly.

" _Nick!_ " Judy hollered from afar. His ears perked as he glanced quickly behind him.

Then the clever fox turned back to her and took out his phone, pointing at the device and then at Fru Fru. He made "snapshot" gestures in the air followed by frantic pointing at himself, then again at the mother. Clearly, he wanted her to send him the picture she'd just shown them. Fru Fru nodded her head to show she had understood the fox, smiling at him all the while.

Nick beamed back, shooting her a thumbs up before promptly disappearing. There was a distant rev of an engine, which faded away into the night.

The arctic shrew would have to get back to Clawhauser about that betting pool. She had the feeling now would be a good time to raise her stakes.

—

a/n: For the anon who requested a fic with this prompt!

Un-beta'd, barely edited, might make corrections as I go along. Hope you guys enjoyed, and as always, leave a review if you had fun reading this fic! :"))


	3. Lamplight

—

 **Lamplight**

—

Priscilla had just finished asking (in a record time of 45 minutes) if he'd seen everybody's favorite pair of cops recently. She'd managed to detail the last time she'd seen them herself and also inquire about whether or not Flash had happened upon them and how they were doing if he had.

"They're…"

The popular duo had been buddy buddy at that one speeding incident (which he'd sped away from with just a warning and a chastising from Judy). But he'd seen them after that, too. About a month after.

Not that they had known. They'd been too engrossed in each other, and it had been night time with no passersby. The only reason Flash had recognized them was because the flickering street lamp, yellow and dim and rather pitiful in all honesty, had bared their very distinct silhouettes. After all, how often did one see a lanky fox with his tail wrapped around a tiny bunny, an umbrella in one hand and takeout in the other while he stooped to kiss her, presumably?

Flash could come clean. He could say, "oh, I think they're dating," which would take a good 7 minutes to spit out. He could summarize the scene he'd witnessed, which would cover their entire evening. Buuuutttt… he could also narrate each detail, from the way the rain had been coming down rather harshly and the neon "open" sign of the shabby little restaurant had flickered pathetically, to the fact that they'd still done a cute little dance, Nick sacrificing his dryness to spin Judy out with the umbrella held safely over her ears and then catching her when she twirled back into his arms, her laughing giddily. And then he'd draped his tail around her and pulled her tightly into him, whispering something into her ear that made Judy smack him. But she was grinning, Flash could tell by the silhouette of the curve of her cheek. And then they'd kissed.

But explaining all that would take a good few days. So the sloth settled for smiling slowly at Priscilla while he drawled out his finishing word.

"Well."

—

a/n: A drabble based off a fic request I got on my tumblr. :") Hope you guys enjoyed! You should leave a review if so, hehehe HEHEHE


	4. Double Dates

**The difference between a double date and a blind date is what you can and can't see**

—

"You ready?" Nick singsongs, tapping the bouquet of flowers he's carrying against the palm of his paw. Judy strolls up to him, adjusts his collar, and then swats at his hands to make him stop abusing his flowers.

He's wearing a nice, sky blue shirt that doesn't clash with his fur, surprisingly. It's lacking any floral, touristy print, which is rare for him. His khakis are clean and freshly laundered– the creases from the dry cleaner's folds are still there. All in all, he's as handsome and charming as ever, if Judy does say so herself. She pats him on the chest, smiling fondly up at him.

"Ready!" She salutes jokingly. Nick rolls his eyes.

"Meet you at Babette's?"

"Last one there pays the whole bill!"

"As unfair as that is," Nick yells as Judy bounds away to meet her date, "you do realize it'll only impress my date if I pick up the whole bill?"

She laughs, letting the apartment complex doors shut behind her.

—

When Nick finally shows up at Babette's, he's a good 15 minutes late. But at least he's got his date, who happens to be an _extremely_ pretty vixen.

Judy's eyes widen in awe of the fox's beauty, and she practically leaps over to her, hands over her heart. "You are _beautiful_ ," She enthuses, beaming up at the other girl. Then Judy changes the focus of her attention to Nick. "You really did it right this time, huh partner?"

"I do it right _every_ time, Carrots." He smirks at her, tugging one of her ears. Judy narrows her eyes and swats his paw away.

"Don't mind him, he's just full of himself," She says to the vixen, who just smiles bashfully. "What's your name?"

"Thanks for the warning," Her voice is as svelte as her looks. "I'm Isabella. I've heard all about you." She looks kindly at Nick, who is smiling lopsidedly down at Judy.

"Oh no," Judy groans. "Good things, I hope?"

"Only," Isabella laughs. "Nick is very… _fond_ of you."

—

 _Fond_ is an understatement. Isabella doesn't even know why Nick asked her out or why Nick is dating her, because he's _clearly_ infatuated with the little bunny standing in front of her. She's adorable though (and quite pretty), so she doesn't mind. She'll humor Nick a little longer, because Nick's a _very_ attractive fox, and it'd be a shame to let him go so soon. She'll do it eventually– break up with him, that is– but not until she's had her fill of fun.

Isabella's actually more surprised, however, that this little bunny doesn't seem affected by Nick's good looks or charm. They're as friendly as friends can be, and Judy seems to be impervious to his affectionate teasing and toe-curling smirks.

Judy's date, however, seems to be an… _indicator_ of Judy's type. He and Nick hit it off right from the start, cracking bad puns to each other and connecting over Judy's little quirks. Judy groans and grumbles through the jokes, but it's all just a show, because she's fighting down a smile and returning the quips with an equal amount of wit and ferocity. Her date's name is Sean, and he's equipped with that same, smug grin and cool, lazy demeanor that Nick has in spades. In fact, he seems just like a rabbit variety of Nick.

Isabella's not convinced that this is just a coincidence.

—

When they're seated, Isabella sits across from Nick, and Judy sits next to Isabella, across from Sean.

It's silent as they browse the menu until Nick pipes up, "Ha, they've got a carrot soufflé, Hopps. Think it'll compare to Corgini's?"

" _Nothing_ beats Corgini's carrot soufflé," Judy reprimands, but there's a gleam in her eye because carrot soufflé is her favorite, and she's always looking for one that's better than her favorite.

"Remember that one place that had you upchucking carrots and cheese for a week?"

Judy gags. "Don't remind me." She glances at Isabella and Sean. "It was at that cafe three blocks down. Don't go there." She chucks a thumb at Nick. "He got their seafood burger and it was _gross_." She looks almost green from the memory.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the fish had stopped swimming months ago."

"And then, it was so slimy I'm pretty sure it started swimming down my throat," Judy continues. "Not to mention, Nick's _disgusting_ habit of re-arranging sandwich components before taking a bite. Do you know what I'm talking about, Bella?"

She smiles faintly, shaking her head. "I don't think I've seen Nick eat a sandwich yet, actually."

With a short burst of laughter, Judy deadpans, "Next time you guys go out to watch a movie, tell him you want to see him eat a sandwich instead. It's got all the action, adventure, and comedy any box office feature has."

Nick scowls at her. "There's a reason I don't bring sandwiches to the office, rabbit."

—

"I get you," Sean chimes in, addressing Nick. "If the ratios are off, the sandwich tastes weird."

Nick's eyes light up. "Exactly!"

Sean has another comment at the ready, prepared to have a back-and-forth discussion with Nick. His mouth even opens, but Nick immediately turns back to Judy and says, "See? I'm not the only one! That's $10 right there, Carrots. Pay up!"

Judy grumbles and hands over a bill.

Sean and Judy have only been together for a week or two, which is shorter than Nick and Isabella's one-and-a-half months, but even in that short amount of time he's noticed that sometimes when he talks to Judy when her mind is fully engaged in something else (usually she's still thinking about the case she just left), she absent-mindedly calls him 'Nick.'

She hasn't caught herself yet, and for some reason, he never feels bothered to call her out on it. Maybe it's because he's only half-invested in the relationship. They'd met at the farmer's market, and he'd thought she was pretty, so he'd asked her out on a date. She'd been thoroughly surprised and flattered and grateful and enthusiastic, but for some reason had still accepted rather tentatively.

Sean knows there's something holding her back from fully committing, and seeing the way her eyes light up in Nick's presence, he's pretty sure he's just found out what it is.

—

"So, why do you call her 'Carrots'?" Sean asks, putting his fork down now that he's finished his meal.

Nick grins, sitting back and placing his own utensils down. Judy rolls her eyes and responds in his stead, "It's a bad joke. Nick has some internal speciesism that he needs to work through."

" _Ha!_ " Nick barks, eyes widening at his partner. "You wanna talk about internal speciesism?"

"Oh no," Her voice is small and she shrinks into herself, burning bright red. "Stop. Don't."

Nick smirks at her. "When I first met Judy, we went on this _grand_ adventure."

As Nick dives into this story, he trains his eyes on Judy, who has dropped her forehead to the table.

—

It's chilly when they leave the restaurant, and Judy is shivering a little in her red, gingham sundress. Sean notices and starts to slip out of his sports jacket, but somehow, Nick has already shrugged out of his own peacoat and drapes it around Judy with a flourish.

"So _needy_ ," The fox chides, smiling mischievously down at her. Judy frowns up at him and sticks out her tongue, but pulls the coat tighter against herself. "Real mature," Nick smirks, putting his paws in his pockets.

Isabella and Sean exchange a look. They both saw the way Nick's hand lingered a little too long on the bunny's shoulder. The vixen and buck slow their steps down together, falling back while the cops continue to walk ahead. Nick bumps his hip against Judy, saying something to her that makes her laugh as she nudges him back.

"When do you think they'll figure it out?" Sean asks, looking at Isabella.

"I give them a month," she replies lightly, smiling at the buck, who she's pretty sure she'll become good friends with.

"I give 'em two weeks."

Isabella quirks a smile and raise her eyebrows at his confidence. "$20?"

" _40_ ," Sean says very assuredly.

Impressed, Isabella sticks her paw out, and they shake on it. "It's a deal."

Nick and Judy pass under the streetlight a few yards ahead. Nick is smiling softly down at the bunny while she rambles on about her opinion on what the tabloids are saying now, completely oblivious to the way Nick looks at her.

"See you in two weeks, then?" Isabella asks off-handedly.

Sean grins at her. "We can make it three days, for the pretty vixen."

Isabella laughs. Nick and Judy are so far ahead, it's clear that they've forgotten they have other company. But neither Sean or Isabella are too concerned, because they're both pretty sure there's a good friendship forming elsewhere, too.

—

a/n: Written in response to a fic rec I got on my tumblr! :"D Hope you guys enjoyed! Leave your opinions in a review, please! 3


	5. Cutting Rugs

**Cutting Rugs**

—

 _for Hali, cause she's the bomb-diggity._

—

"It's _four_ steps, Nick."

"That's what I'm doing, Carrots. One… two… three…four. _See?_ "

"I see six steps, is what I see."

"Clearly the Mammal upstairs had to compensate for your ears in some way."

She wanted to scowl at his wisecrack, but the smile she was fighting to hide peeked out from behind the curtain of her disapproving glare. Nick noticed, smirking slowly at her as she uncrossed her arms, huffed, and took his paws back into her's. His lopsided grin tilted into a genuine one, and he wriggled his fingers in her light grip.

"I think I've finally found something you're bad at," Judy joked, swinging their arms a bit before beginning to move.

"Unfortunately, you're wrong," Nick answered matter-of-factly, staring at her feet as Judy showed him the motions again. "Or fortunately, depending on which side of this relationship you're standing on. I tend towards hating when you're right. But I digress– I happen to be _extremely_ good at dancing, Carrots. I'm a regular Fred Asbear. Salsa, mamba, waltz–"

"Asbear could swing, Nick. Plus, this is just the first step! You do realize I can't teach you anything else until you get this?"

"– _fox_ trot, of course–"

"Did you _really_ just–"

"–even square-dancing–"

"You can _square_ dance but you can't _swing?_ "

"That's irrelevant."

"What… what are you… _what?_ "

Nick pressed a paw to Judy's muzzle and shook his head with theatrical gravitas, as if they were caught in a life-or-death situation and her silence was the determining factor. "Less talking, more dancing, fluff-butt. I've got an undercover case to prepare for."

Rolling her eyes, she stepped away from him. "Alright. Show me what you were doing again."

With false bravado, Nick jauntily imitated whatever it was he'd been watching Judy do for the past hour. "There," he took a bow. "Perfect."

"You're adding an extra step on the third and fourth beat. Which is a common mistake!" She added hastily, like Nick needed the comfort of knowing he wasn't a solo screw-up. "It's the weird pause. Just shift your weight through your body instead of trying to balance it out with the other foot."

"Like this?" He attempted a poor parody of whatever "fancy" footwork Judy had displayed.

Judy swallowed her frustrated sigh, holding a paw up in the air to stop Nick. " _Nooo_. Like _this_." She performed the sequence, looking expectantly at Nick when she was done. He shrugged, so she repeated herself. This happened a total of four times before she was standing right in front of Nick with knit brows.

"Nick, it's not that hard, c'mon, just– _wu-oAH!_ " Judy stumbled as Nick grabbed her hands and pulled her forward. She fell into step with him as he perfectly executed the rocking motion, then segued alarmingly smoothly through several different moves from the swing and various other ballroom dances.

As the lively beat– which had been blaring tinnily through the pathetic excuse for a sound system the ZPD had tossed at them (apparently being the best two detectives on the force still didn't merit the better equipment. Or maybe it was just Nick's history with abusing the volume)– came to an end, he pulled her into a dip (of the merengue variety), beaming at her as her ears brushed the ground and their chests rose and fell in tandem.

"You knew this entire time!" Judy panted, eyes bright with energy. "Sneaky little…" She didn't bother finishing her sentence, just smiled widely up at him before pressing a quick, unexpected kiss to his mouth.

When she pulled away, Nick followed after her, craning his neck to keep up the kiss. Judy laughed, but her amusement was cut short when Nick pulled her up from the dip, paws sliding eagerly from her side to the bottom of her thighs, tugging gently.

She got the hint and thought that she really shouldn't take it. But somehow, Judy still found her upper thighs squeezing Nick's sides as she crossed her ankles behind him. "Nick, we can't, I'm supposed to be bringing you up to speed on the dances you'll have to know–"

"Oh, _we_ _'_ _ll be dancing_. Takes two to tango, right? And I happen to be _very_ good at the tango." He grinned at her, half-lidded gaze warm and inviting while his eyebrows wriggled suggestively.

Judy stared at him, fingers clasped behind his neck. They really shouldn't. They were technically working. This wasn't a good time. There wasn't even anywhere convenient _to_ engage in–

"Plus, that closet across the hall is pretty roomy. Scoped it out before you got here." He pressed the pad of his paw into the small of her back, forcing her closer to him so that he could nudge her ears with his muzzle, and she practically melted to the floor.

Judy buried her face into the ruff of fur on his chest, breathing in familiarity and comfort. "You just have all the right moves, don't you, Wilde?" She chided fondly, voice muffled.

"Oh, Carrots," Nick answered, equally as affectionate as he spun on his heel in the direction of the closet. "Only cause I've got a good partner."

—

a/n: Inspired by: "Should I have prompted you to have Judy give Nick dance lessons?" – Hali (you are welcome to extend whatever following scene you imagine in a fic of your own /HEH HEH HEH)

and

that I took swing-dancing classes, like, twice when I was a freshman in college. P: I actually only learned three moves, and one of 'em was the Charleston… (I still know that step. When Spotify shuffles onto the right song and there's nobody in the apartment… all hell breaks loose.

That's enough intimate, embarrassing information for the night, G'BYE EVERYBODY! BAHAHA)


End file.
